Magical Studies at Hogwarts...

Chapter 191 Giant Tribe

Once you can use magic, everything becomes simple.

McNeil continuously used the Detection Charm to search for suspicious places nearby, while Ike was responsible for casting the Levitation Charm on the two of them, deliberately increasing its power so that they could leap far away with a single step. Only in this way could the Detection Charm be used to its fullest extent.

Starting from France, the two followed the Alps, passing through northern Italy and southern Germany, until they arrived in Austria, near the border with Switzerland.

Even with magic, this is not an easy journey.

"Perhaps we should have come to Austria in the first place." In the vast snow-capped mountains, McNeil took a sip of hot water from his kettle and immediately felt much warmer.

He wasn't cold; a constant temperature spell would have solved that. But in this freezing weather, it was still quite chilly.

"This is something no one could have predicted, but we haven't come away empty-handed." Ike was still wearing a thin robe, with a large hood covering his face, and he was wearing a pair of glasses, a small gift from Dumbledore to him during his first year of high school.

"Yes, who would have thought that the Rozier and Roll families still have living members?" McNeil exclaimed. "Ever since Evan died, I thought they had been wiped out."

"That's a pleasant surprise."

"Yes," Ike chimed in. He never expected that people from those two families would hide in Germany, especially deep in the mountains. If he hadn't seen through the protective magic they had set up around their residence, he wouldn't have been able to find these guys at all.

However, Rozier and the Rozier family suffered annihilation during the First Wizarding War, and even those who escaped were few in number. Nevertheless, upon learning of Voldemort's resurrection, this group decided to return to England and rejoin his ranks.

Ike found it hard to understand why they would do this. Apart from a few white-haired old men, the two families only had a few people around his age left, at most just reaching adulthood. In addition, years of living in isolation had left these people in poor condition, somewhat neurotic.

On second thought, Ike felt relieved. After all, there weren't many normal people who could follow Old Fu.

McNeil recognized the group of white-haired old men; decades ago, they had fought alongside each other against the Ministry of Magic, and their reunion was filled with a joyous, long-awaited excitement. What followed was the familiar exchange of information.

After one night, the two families returned west to London, while Ike and McNeil headed east to Austria.

After all, they had lived in the mountains for decades and knew of the giants' tracks.

"If their clues are correct, they should be around here," McNeil said, putting away his water bottle and looking around at the seemingly identical scenery.

"I don't think it matters whether we have their help or not; we still basically traversed the entire Alps," Ike said calmly.

Hearing this, McNeil was a little embarrassed, but he quickly covered it up. He coughed lightly and said, "Let's go, the sooner we find those guys, the sooner we can get back."

Having a goal changed their mood, and even their search speed increased considerably. By this time, more than half a month had passed since they set off, and they were both eager to finish as soon as possible.

After searching for another three or four days, the two finally found the group of big guys.

In the remote mountains, beyond the ridge, several towering figures, each over twenty feet tall, lay below. They were gathered together, some walking slowly, others sitting on the ground, around a small campfire in the center. Every now and then, giants would return, carrying various kinds of prey and timber, seemingly in an orderly fashion.

"We'll go down again tomorrow to see their Gugo," McNeil said, looking at the sky. "Take a shower and get some rest tonight."

"Gugo?" Ike asked. "What's that?"

"The leader of the giants, their name is Gugo, the ugliest and tallest of the bunch," McNeil said, leading Ike behind a huge rock as he pulled out a tent. "Easy to spot."

The two went into their tents and slept soundly through the night. The next morning, they descended the mountain, refreshed and ready to go to the giant tribe.

McNeil led the way. He had already located Gugo on the mountain yesterday, by the lake at the very end of the valley. Completely ignoring the other giants in the valley, he carried a very large box aloft and walked straight towards the lake.

Ike followed behind, and when the two arrived in front of Gugo, McNeil respectfully placed the box on the snow beside the tall, ugly giant, bowed, and shouted, "A gift from the Dark Lord to the giant Gugo, as a sign of respect!"

Gugo had already spotted the two giants. Upon seeing them, he straightened his back slightly, opened his mouth, and uttered a phrase that Ike couldn't understand. Soon after, two slightly shorter giants arrived.

"What is this?" a giant stammered, his voice very loud and with a very obvious accent.

"The music box made by fairies can produce beautiful music," McNeil said.

The giant whispered a few words to Gugo, then asked, "Gugo wants to know, besides making sounds, what else can it do?"

"It will help you sleep better," McNeil replied.

Gugo was clearly not satisfied with McNeil's answer, but since it was a magical item, he accepted it.

Upon seeing this, McNeil declared again, "The Dark Lord hopes that when the messenger brings gifts again tomorrow, Gugo will be able to discuss some matters with the messenger."

"Gugo agreed," the giant replied. Upon hearing this, McNeil and Ike bowed to Gugo again, walked backwards for a while, and then turned and left.

Back in the tent, Ike asked, "Why didn't we ask today?"

"Today's gift didn't satisfy Gugo," McNeil frowned. "I admit, I underestimated the guy. We'll have to bring out something more valuable tomorrow."

"A greatsword made by fairies should be a good choice."

"You should have brought this today," Ike said calmly. "I don't think those giants know how to appreciate music."

Upon hearing this, McNeil looked slightly embarrassed, smiled, and didn't respond.

"I'm going out for a walk to familiarize myself with the surroundings," he said, stepping out of the tent.

He didn't return until almost evening.

After having dinner and resting for the night, the two entered the giant tribe again the next morning.

When McNeil handed the greatsword to Gugo, it was clear that he was very satisfied this time, as he gripped the hilt and swung it around a few times.

"Gugo is very pleased with your gift, and he has agreed to speak with you," the same giant from yesterday translated.

McNeil was delighted and immediately said, "The Dark Lord wants Gugo to lead your tribe back to England. He has promised to give you and your people a vast land, provided you can help him take over the Ministry of Magic and defeat Dumbledore."

The giant translated McNeil's words to Gugo, but Gugo reacted violently. He shouted and roared, and brandished his greatsword at McNeil in a menacing manner.

"Gug disagrees. Gug knows Dumbledore; he opposes killing the last giant of England and is a good man," the giant translated. "Gug also knows the Dark Lord, an evil and cruel wizard. Gug disagrees with your proposal."

"You should leave; you are not welcome here!"

McNeil's face was grim, but seeing Gugo's fierce appearance, he still bowed and left with Ike.

Throughout the journey, McNeil was clearly suppressing his anger. As soon as he entered the tent, he kicked the small coffee table next to the sofa over.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he cursed. "We need to think of something else!"

McNeil scratched his head, pacing back and forth in the living room like a headless fly. He finally stopped after a while.

Touching his chin, as if remembering something, he said, "No, we can't give up like this!"

"Of course we can't give up like this," Ike said calmly. "The teacher's mission must be completed."

"I know," McNeil replied casually, plopping down on the sofa. He then thought for a moment before saying, "It seems this Gugo won't agree, but what if we find another Gugo?"

"Change to a Gugo?" Ike asked, feigning a puzzled expression.

“Yes, let’s get a different Gogo.” McNeil clapped his hands, thinking his idea was brilliant. “Giants aren’t exactly peaceful creatures; they’re always clashing for all sorts of reasons, and fighting for the leadership is very common.”

"Then you need to find someone who wants to be the leader," Ike said. "He needs to be very strong, able to defeat the current Gugo."

"More importantly, he has to agree to our proposal."

"Yes, yes, that's it." McNeil stood up, took a few steps to the door, and lifted the curtain.

"You wait here, I'll go check in the tribe, it should be ready by tonight."

That's what he said, but when McNeil returned that evening, he looked very unwell, clearly indicating that things hadn't gone smoothly. He went out again early the next morning, and when he returned that evening, there was still no progress.

Two more days passed, and when McNeil returned with a furrowed brow, Ike was already used to it, simply asking routinely, "How was your day?"

"Very good, I have found the giant who can become the new Gugo."

"Then why are you like this?" Ike said. "Your eyebrows are so furrowed you could trap a fly."

"I saw Dumbledore's men, Hagrid and that Headmistress of Beauxbatons!" McNeil exclaimed. "Damn it, what are they doing here!"

"It wasn't unexpected that they would come, but I didn't expect them to come so quickly." Ike frowned, stroking his chin, looking like he was deep in thought.

"This is troublesome, young master, as you should know," McNeil said. "We've broken up with the old Gugo, and I've only just started talking to the new giant, Gogoma..."

"So you need to hurry, I estimate we don't have much time, just a day or two, at the latest the day after tomorrow, that's called Gao..."

"High horse".

"...Yes, Gogoma, at the latest the day after tomorrow, he must become the new Gugo." He paused, then asked, "Are you sure that Gogoma will agree to our proposal?"

"I don't know, but it should be fine." McNeil scratched his head, looking annoyed. "At least he showed some interest in my proposal after I gave him a pair of fairy-made bracers."

Upon hearing this, Ike's expression turned strange: "You didn't bring a whole set of armor, did you? And you're only giving away part of it at once?"

"Yes, that's right, otherwise where would we get so much stuff for these stupid, dirty bastards?" McNeil's face was full of disdain. "I'll continue to send stuff to that guy named Gogoma tomorrow and the day after, to make sure he kills the current Gugo."

"But after he becomes the new Gugo, he'll probably have to keep sending gifts, those damn, greedy guys."

McNeil grumbled and cursed as he finished dinner, then went straight to his room. The next morning, he left again to find the giant named Tall Horse.

This time, Ike didn't stay in the tent. Instead, he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and quietly climbed up the mountainside to keep an eye on the giant tribe.

After waiting a while, just as McNeil had said, Hagrid and Maxim arrived. They also brought gifts for Gugo, chatted for a while, and then left, finding a cave halfway up the opposite mountain and disappearing inside.

When McNeil returned that evening, he looked much better and smiled again.

"Gorgo has agreed; he will kill Kakus tomorrow night," McNeil said. "By the way, Kakus is now Gugo's name."

"Is he confident?" Ike asked. "Kakus has the greatsword we gave him."

"No problem, because I gave Gao Gao Ma a big axe." McNeil smiled and gestured to show the size of the axe. Ike also laughed. He saw the axe, which was more than three meters long and was very big.

"So we'll just wait for Gao Gaoma's operation tomorrow night? I secretly saw Hagrid and Maxim giving Kakus a gift today, and they seemed to be having a good chat."

"It's alright, Kakus will be finished tomorrow night anyway." McNeil said with a relaxed expression. "Gorgo has already agreed that after becoming Gugo, he won't agree to any of Hagrid's or their proposals, and will only talk to us."

"Of course, that's on the condition that we continue to send him gifts... Damn, the giants are insatiable!"

"Doing a good job of what the teacher asked us to do is the most important thing; gifts and such are not important," Ike said. "Besides, that set of goblin-made armor and weapons, isn't that part of the Malfoy family's collection?"

“That’s right.” McNeil’s expression was relaxed, even a little smug. “Their family has a lot of good stuff; this armor is nothing special!”

"Now, all we need to do is wait quietly..."

(End of this chapter)